Had to write my own installer for Linux

[MacOSX4ever]

Unlike Mac, where you can brew install, there's no installer for Linux.
It's all sandboxed. There's no apt install.

People are leaving Mac and windows to get away from all of the sandboxed garbage, and now we have to deal with it in Linux.
It's not an iPad, it's a computer, and we want full access, Sandboxing screws that up. Lose access to our own disks and network shares.

So, to get out of the sandbox, I had to write my own installer, until some day there's an apt install, or a downloadable .deb.
I've only run it on Ubuntu 26.
This is the second app I have had to do this to, when there's no other working non-sandboxed installer.

`#!/usr/bin/env bash

-- mode: shell-script --

SCRIPT_NAME="$(basename "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")"

OSTYPE=$(uname -s)
[[ -z $aRD ]] || [[ -f .ansi ]] && source .ansi

APP_ID="massCode"
APP_INFO="install latest massCode code snippet manager."

if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "Darwin" ]]; then
brew install masscode
else

# ==============================================================================
# Script: masscode_system_install.sh
# Description: Downloads massCode AppImage to ~/Downloads (saving it for reuse),
#              extracts it as user in /tmp to bypass sandbox restrictions,
#              deploys it directly into /opt/masscode, and creates a 
#              system-wide .desktop entry.
# ==============================================================================

# Variables
VERSION="5.9.1"
APPIMAGE_URL="https://github.com/massCodeIO/massCode/releases/download/v${VERSION}/massCode-${VERSION}.AppImage"
DOWNLOAD_DIR="$HOME/Downloads"
FILENAME="massCode-${VERSION}.AppImage"
FILEPATH="$DOWNLOAD_DIR/$FILENAME"
INSTALL_DIR="/opt/masscode"
TEMP_EXTRACT_DIR="/tmp/masscode_tmp"
DESKTOP_FILE="/usr/share/applications/masscode.desktop"

echo "--- Initializing System-Wide Setup ---"

# Ensure download directory exists
mkdir -p "$DOWNLOAD_DIR"

# 1. Download the AppImage (if not already present in ~/Downloads)
if [[ ! -f "$FILEPATH" ]]; then
    echo "Downloading massCode AppImage to $DOWNLOAD_DIR..."
    wget -O "$FILEPATH" "$APPIMAGE_URL"
    if [[ $? -ne 0 ]]; then
        echo "Error: Download failed."
        exit 1
    fi
else
    echo "AppImage already exists in ~/Downloads. Skipping download."
fi

# 2. Set execution permissions
chmod +x "$FILEPATH"

# 3. Extraction and Installation (Extract as regular user to avoid sudo mount/sandbox blocks)
echo "Extracting and installing massCode to $INSTALL_DIR..."
rm -rf "$TEMP_EXTRACT_DIR"
mkdir -p "$TEMP_EXTRACT_DIR"

cd "$TEMP_EXTRACT_DIR" || exit
# Run extraction entirely under your user account
"$FILEPATH" --appimage-extract > /dev/null

# Move payload into /opt using sudo
sudo mkdir -p "$INSTALL_DIR"
sudo rm -rf "${INSTALL_DIR:?}"/*
sudo mv squashfs-root/* "$INSTALL_DIR/"

# 4. Desktop Integration
echo "Creating desktop entry..."
cat <<EOF | sudo tee "$DESKTOP_FILE" > /dev/null

[Desktop Entry]
Name=massCode
Comment=A free, open-source developer workspace
Exec=$INSTALL_DIR/masscode
Icon=$INSTALL_DIR/usr/share/icons/hicolor/0x0/apps/masscode.png
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Development;Utility;
StartupWMClass=masscode
EOF

# Ensure icon fallback if needed
if [[ -f "$INSTALL_DIR/usr/share/icons/hicolor/512x512/apps/masscode.png" ]]; then
    sudo cp "$INSTALL_DIR/usr/share/icons/hicolor/512x512/apps/masscode.png" "$INSTALL_DIR/masscode.png"
    # Update icon path in desktop file for safety
    sudo sed -i "s|Icon=.*|Icon=$INSTALL_DIR/masscode.png|" "$DESKTOP_FILE"
fi

# Cleanup temp extraction files only (leaving ~/Downloads intact)
cd /tmp || exit
rm -rf "$TEMP_EXTRACT_DIR"

echo "--- Setup Complete ---"
echo "massCode installed natively to: $INSTALL_DIR"
echo "Desktop entry created at: $DESKTOP_FILE"
echo "AppImage safely preserved at: $FILEPATH"
sudo chown root:root /opt/masscode/chrome-sandbox
sudo chmod 4755 /opt/masscode/chrome-sandbox

fi
`

[antonreshetov]

An AppImage is not a sandbox. It does not restrict access to disks or network shares, and extracting it into /opt does not “escape” anything. Your script then explicitly installs Electron’s chrome-sandbox as a root-owned setuid binary, directly contradicting the premise of this post.

This is not a proper installer either. It hardcodes a version, performs no integrity or signature verification, provides no update or uninstall mechanism, bypasses package management, and contains unrelated environment-specific code. Users should not treat it as a supported installation method.

Requesting a .deb package or APT repository is reasonable. Presenting a manually unpacked AppImage as a necessary workaround for an imaginary sandbox is not.

This is now the second discussion containing misleading technical claims, incomplete personal scripts, and condescending responses when the errors are explained. Discussions are for actionable feedback, not for publishing personal automation as missing massCode features. This discussion is closed.